KAPA‘A — The Kapa‘a Warriors were in line for heartbreak.
Following a 10-0 thumping at the hands of the Kaua‘i Red Raiders in Game 1 of a doubleheader, the Warriors battled back and took a three-run lead into the final inning of Game 2. Kapa‘a starting pitcher Keoki Planas needed three outs to earn the complete game win and erase any lingering doubt that the Warriors could close.
After a near-blowup, the pitching combination of Planas, Keola Lutz and Nick Tabura shut down the Red Raiders to secure a 4-3 win Saturday afternoon at Ron Martin Field.
The win gave the Warriors their first Round 2 victory and evened the Red Raiders record to 2-2 on the season.
“I told the guys to forget about the first game because it was a disaster for us,” Kapa‘a head coach Brian Aiwohi said. “I told them to go back and battle for it.”
Just three weeks ago, the Warriors took a 5-2 lead into the seventh inning against Kaua‘i. Four runs in the bottom of the inning later, and the Red Raiders emerged with a 6-5 win.
This time to begin the seventh, Planas toed the rubber and offered a first-pitch strike to Erin Doi — who pitched a complete game shutout in Game 1.
Then the wheels came off.
Planas threw four straight balls to Doi to walk the leadoff batter. The young pitcher regrouped to force pinch hitter Bryton Lumabao to ground a weak ball to third baseman Mick Voigt. Voigt threw the ball to second base to get the lead runner, but second baseman Rashaan Kuhaulua dropped the ball and all runners were safe.
Kaua‘i capitalized with a Kanoa Iwasaki RBI double to force Planas out of the game. In relief, Keola Lutz got Shane Ogata to ground out and followed with a strikeout of Dreyke Smith-Butac. But the Red Raiders chased Lutz when John Dumlao roped an RBI single to pull Kaua‘i within a run at 4-3.
The third pitcher of the inning, Tabura, intentionally walked Jensen Koga to face Tyler Manibog. Five pitches later, Tabura got Manibog to chase strike three to secure the win.
“We’ve almost overcame the hump twice against these guys and both times they came back,” Aiwohi said. “This time, we finally got over it.”
Aiwohi credited his three pitchers for coming back and limiting the Red Raiders to six hits and three runs following a six-inning first game in which the Red Raiders exploded for 10 runs on 11 hits. Smith-Butac led the Raiders in the first game with three hits and two runs scored, while Austin Oshiro helped with the run-support with an RBI double and a two-run scoring single in a five-run sixth inning.
Knowing that Kaua‘i’s offense could wake from its sleep at any moment, Aiwohi said both Lutz and Taburo were raring to go if they were called on.
“They were both eager and ready to get into the game,” Aiwohi said. “They both wanted it. You can’t ask more for than a pitcher wanting to get in there and finish the game.”
The ability to close the game wasn’t the only new side shown by the Warriors. Kapa‘a has struggled with runners in scoring position all season and continued that trend in the fourth inning when they loaded the bases and didn’t score.
But the Warriors, following a Mick Voigt RBI single in the fifth inning, tacked on three runs in the sixth inning with an RBI Voigt single followed by a two-RBI single from Kuhaulua.
The doubleheader split sets up an exciting final week and a half of KIF baseball. The Red Raiders could have emerged from the weekend as the team to beat with a Saturday sweep, but now the Red Raiders — with games Wednesday against Waimea and April 25 against Kapa‘a — face two must-win games, head coach Hank Ibia said.
“We’ve got to win out,” Ibia said. “The good thing is we have a card in our back pocket, and that’s winning the first round. We still would have to play a championship game if we need to.”
Ibia said after the first game of the doubleheader where everything went right for the Raiders, the bats went cold in Game 2.
“We had 11 hits in the first game, and it just died out in the second one,” he said. “It just didn’t work out for our side in that game.”
The Red Raiders face the 2-1 Waimea Menehune at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Hanapepe Stadium.
• Tyson Alger, sports writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or by emailing talger@ thegardenisland.com. Follow him on twitter.com/tysonalger.
